OUT OF THE PASTOR’S PEN

Enrollment is still open for Finger Lakes Ignite’s new quarter: Live the Word Out Loud: Walking Daily in Seven Great Promises of Jesus.I hope you’ll pray about joining us. First class is this Sunday, November 5, and enrollment is open thru the second class on Nov. 12th. You can see the Course Outline and Schedule by clicking here.

Why take a class like this in addition to going to church or doing your own Bible study? The answer is simple: to connect with other hungry believers, dive even deeper into the Word and let the Word dive deeper in you. There’s never been a more important time to step up our faith walk. The world is shaking and hungry for real hope. It’s time to light your lamp even brighter and take it out from under a bushel to shed the light of Christ throughout the Finger Lakes and beyond!

Here are the seven promises of Jesus we’ll be ingraining into our daily lives this Fall:

Love and intimacy: “Now remain in My love.” John 15:9

Inner freedom: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!” John 8:36

Abundant life: “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10

Supernatural power: “Remain…until you have been clothed with power. Luke 24:49

Bearing fruit: “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.” John 15:5

To do anything in His name: “You may ask Me for anything in My Name, and I will do it.” John 14:14

Eternal life: “Whoever lives by believing in Me will never die.” John 11:26

Each week we’ll read additional scriptures related to each promise and discuss them in Ignite Small Groups. Creative activations and weekly journaling will help us make each promise more real until they become a part of our everyday lives. How is that possible? Come, taste and see!

This is a portentous time to dig deeper in the Word of God. October 31st marks the 500th anniversary of the day Martin Luther nailed his “95 Theses” to the door of a church in Wittenburg, Germany, calling for reform and a turning back to the Bible from the priestly domination of the Roman Catholic church. The Protestant Reformation Luther ignited brought to the fore a truth long hidden in plain sight in scripture that every person is saved directly by the grace of God, not a hierarchy of priests who required payment of “indulgences”–specified amounts of money–for the forgiveness of sins! See Ephesians 2:8.

Now a growing number of observers say a “New Reformation” is underway in the Body of Christ keyed to the realization not only that we as individuals are saved by grace, but that each one of us is directly empowered by Holy Spirit to impact the world around us supernaturally, just like Jesus! I.e., it’s not up to a select few individuals to walk in daily faith like Jesus. It’s what God intended for every Believer from the beginning when He made us in His image!

Become more of the change you want to see in the world by joining us in Finger Lakes Ignite this fall to ignite the Living Word of God deep in your heart and soul! Classes are two hours a week, reading and journaling takes about another hour of your time. Like many other Ignite students have found in the past, you’ll soon discover it’s the highlight of your week!

A heavy frost descended this week, signaling that autumn is finally here in full, bringing fresh apple cider, pumpkins and wood fires in the hearth. No one has to tell us to put on warm clothes and fleece lined jackets. It’s obvious from the change of weather!

A change of spiritual seasons is also happening around the world right now. Jesus said “You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret the present time?” Luke 12:56 He was talking about the changes that were coming to the world after He revealed the power of God’s Kingdom operating on earth. So how are we, as followers of Christ, to interpret the times in which we now live?

The truth is we can’t begin to understand what’s going on in this new spiritual season without changing our personal belief systems! If we rely on our usual ways of thinking, we are bound to miss what God is doing and succumb to fear, anxiety, frustration and anger like so much of the world. (Just look at the news headlines!) What God is doing is calling us to deepen our understanding of His Word and who He made us to be so that we can believe like Jesus—not just in Him—and walk with confidence in the power of His love, truth, peace and victory over death.

Surely the bedrock of our faith is that we obtain eternal life when we accept that Jesus died for our sins. But the Lord calls us to something more than the promise of eternal life. He calls us to walk in the same power that raised Jesus from the dead! That’s where we are now. That’s the spiritual season we are in now…to step in farther to trust that His promises are really for us today, and to step out farther to take risks for His Kingdom. The world needs now more than ever to experience God directly and see the power of His goodness, love and mercy. This happens when we ourselves draw closer to God in our prayer closets and take risks to share the Jesus in us with others.

Jesus said: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? … But seek his kingdom, and [everything you need] will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom.”

Luke 12: 25-26, 31-32

Take it to heart when the Word of God tells you that you are a new creation, the old has passed away, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17. Let go of your “old man” and use your imagination to practice being who God says you are. Make a determined effort to challenge every thought or emotion you discover in yourself that robs you of the confidence, boldness, hope, courage and love God promises everyone who trusts Him as a child trusts a loving parent!

Put on Christ as you would a warm jacket this Fall, and don’t go anywhere without Him.

Many people I know feel very pressured for time. I hear them say: “Where did all the time go?” Or “There’s just not enough time to get everything done!” They’re not just talking casually. It really seems like time is moving faster these days! Scripture tells us to walk in wisdom and make the best use of our time because the days are evil (Colossians 4:5, Ephesians 5:15-17). How, then, are we to deal with the pressure of time, especially when evil seems so prevalent and things seem to be accelerating?

For this we need to gain God’s perspective about time. After Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden, God declared that Adam “must not be allowed to…take also from the Tree of Life and eat, and live forever.” Genesis 3:22. In other words God intended us to have all the time in the world, but our forebears traded their birthright for a bite of fruit. God’s perspective is that eternity with Him is worth far more than the price of a meal!

By His sacrifice and resurrection Jesus re-opened the door to eternal life to everyone who believes in Him. Our born-again birthright is the capacity to view life clearly and count on God for provision every day as we pray for things to be done on earth as in heaven. We need to hold onto this perspective to avoid succumbing to today’s growing time pressure.

The heart of Godly time management is not managing time but managing ourselves in relation to time, because we can’t really change the clock or calendar. Here are some important principles adapted from our friend, Jamie Dickson, that can help you put God’s eternal perspective about time to work in your own life:

Learn to prioritize what’s most important. If you start building a foundation with small stones—your lowest priorities—you’ll never find room for the big stones, i.e., your big priorities. Big stones include allowing time for spouse and family, healthy exercise, connecting with God, etc.

Saying “no” does not have to mean achieving less. In our family, we eventually gave up a second income in order to have more time to homeschool our daughter. For many years God kept us afloat financially without a second income while we traveled and took our daughter with us!

Time is something to be invested, not “managed.” Have you noticed that when you strive to fit everything you have to do into your calendar you often end working more, seeing your family less and not getting enough rest? When you invest time in what’s important, you learn to let go of less important opportunities that take away from what you want and need the most.

Feeling overwhelmed is not inevitable. It comes from expectations you hold onto and choices you make. Ask God for courage to negotiate expectations according to your boundaries and, if necessary, walk away from situations that really don’t work for you.

Make a list of your projects and tasks. This equips you to make better informed choices about how to invest your time. Otherwise, everything becomes a blur, including your own priorities.

Time management is a means, not an end in itself. Staying flexible about time management helps you avoid stress. e., don’t stress out about time management! Just do it.

Keep the Sabbath. God commanded Adam and Eve to keep the Sabbath long before Moses made it a law. This means keeping Sabbath is for everyone! Honoring God with a consistent day of rest each week sets everything else in our lives in order, reduces stress, and increases joy and peace. Try it! Remember the Sabbath, and you’ll begin holding onto God’s eternal perspective of time much better!

The mass shooting in Las Vegas this past weekend is horrible beyond comprehension. President Trump called it “pure evil.” It was committed by an accountant with no past record of crime, who liked gambling and playing poker for $100 a hand. His brother said the event came out of nowhere “like an asteroid.” The only vague explanation for the shooter’s motives that surfaced in the press was that his father had been on the FBI’s Most Wanted List as a bank robber. The report seemed to imply the impulse for destruction was lodged deep in the shooter’s DNA. Well, the Bible certainly agrees evil is lodged deep in the DNA of humanity.

Evil, meaning inner rotteness or corruption, is first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 2:9, when God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. We know they did. Within ten generations, the evil that began when their first son Cain murdered his brother Abel multiplied until “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5. God had to flood the earth to cleanse the human race. Even so, something corrupt in Noah’s family persisted so that evil continued to appear alongside good after the Flood, spreading throughout all human history until today.

If I were a betting man, which I am not, I would not bet against the continued impact of evil on our beleaguered planet. Jesus Himself depicted evil as growing alongside good in His famous parable of the wheat and tares in Matthew 13:24-30:

“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.”

Until then, Jesus told us to pray that God will deliver us from evil—all kinds of evil, whether natural disasters or inflicted by morally corrupt people like the shooter in Las Vegas. God listens and responds. Jesus also taught us to pray that it be done on earth as it is in heaven, where evil has no toehold. A little reported miracle from hurricane Alice was the way in which the storm suddenly changed direction and skipped over heavily populated Miami to traverse the wild Everglades, then somehow avoided wreaking widespread destruction up the west coast of Florida. At least the TV news in Tampa said it was like a “miracle out of the Moses movie!”

So for now, our job is to invite God to transform us until we become the change we want to see in the world. We may not be able to stop the growth of evil on the whole planet, which is Jesus’ job, but we can do our part to expand the growth of God’s goodness whenever and wherever we step out in faith to share the love of Jesus. All of Creation is waiting for the children of God to be revealed!

As disasters in the U.S. and Caribbean have piled up, heart wrenching images of destruction and interviews with people who have lost everything flood the news. It’s going to take a lot of giving and loving to get millions of people back on their feet. We pray for essential resources to be made available quickly and for emergency responders to manage relief efforts efficiently and effectively. We pray for comfort and strength for those hit hard. Abba, renew their strength as on eagles wings and provide the necessities of life!

The scale of the damage is incomprehensible—”worse than war”, said a combat veteran. The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, with a population of 3.4 million, faces the prospect of mass evacuations to the U.S. since Puerto Ricans don’t need visas to travel here. Unemployment was already at 45% on the island before hurricane Irma hit. With power expected to be out up to six months and vast infrastructure damage, the island faces an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. And this doesn’t include damage done to other islands in the Caribbean, including the Florida Keys. In Houston, while the number of deaths due to hurricane Harvey was small, well over 100,000 homes were destroyed and many others damaged—with only 15% of all homes in Harris county covered by flood insurance prior to the storm!

Unsung by the media, the extent to which local churches have responded to the disasters appears to be very significant at the grass roots level. One pastor in Houston said “Harvey has been an equal opportunity destroyer” affecting rich and poor alike. Millions of people are in need of spiritual comfort as well as practical help. Countless small congregations are engaged in providing it.

I believe this is a prophetic picture of something we’ll see repeated in the future: small localized communities of believers being called upon to help neighbors creatively because large agencies are either overloaded, strapped for resources or unable to find ways to get help down to the most affected people. Especially in the realm of spiritual comfort and assistance, local churches have an opportunity to make God’s love real in ways other agencies simply can’t.

So what are we to make of this as Christians living far from the regions of destruction? Certainly we should keep praying and interceding for miracles of provision. Some of us may have friends who were affected. If so, pray about how to reach out to help them. As a church, we do not have resources on hand to make a big difference, but we will watch for opportunities where we may be able to help. I am sure mission trip opportunities will arise to go to devastated areas once infrastructure essentials are restored.

For now, I am struck by how disasters bring out the will in people to give. Love has to look like something, just as faith without works is dead. Why does it take a disaster to remind us of this?! God’s love always involves giving. And real giving always involves a sacrifice. Thank You, Abba Father, for opportunities to help others in need, whether far off or near at hand. Pour out Your Spirit of wisdom to direct us in how we are to reach out to others in such times of need.

“Really, we are people who serve God,” one Puerto Rican told CNN. “And yes, we are saddened because when you lose every little thing you may have, it’s not easy to recover… but we have not lost our faith.”

This Wednesday at church we celebrate Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year 5778, with a dish to pass, a little teaching, worship and dance. Why? First, because it’s a Biblical festival, given in Leviticus 23:23 and Numbers 29:1, where it is called a day for blowing trumpets, or shofars. Ancient Israel used shofars to rally to go to war and to mark important celebrations. On Rosh Hashanah one hundred blasts of trumpets called the people to a time of introspection and repentance before the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the holiest day of the year that comes exactly ten days after Rosh Hashanah (Leviticus 23:27).

On the Day of Atonement the high priest entered the Holy of Holies in hopes God would forgive the people of Israel for their sins. The ten-day period leading from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur was a time to examine the Scriptures, repent and return to God in hopes He would forgive and write the person’s name in the Book of Life. Israel had to do this every year but we have Jesus, our Great High Priest, who covered our sins once for all by the shedding of His blood on the Cross.

Shofars are made from goats’ horns and they also reminded ancient Israel of the goat God gave Abraham to sacrifice in place of Abraham’s son, Isaac—the Old Testament story Jews read most often. One day all Jews will realize this story foretells Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross as a sin offering for everyone who receives Him! For Christians, every time the shofar is blown, we are reminded that God gave us Jesus like a ram in the bush, as a substitute to die for our sins. Blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah calls us to awaken from spiritual slumber and make room for the breath of God, Holy Spirit, to blow afresh in our lives!

There’s also a secret hidden in plain sight in the symbolism of Rosh Hashanah, which is celebrated on a new moon, when the moon is concealed. What is concealed on Rosh Hashanah? The fetching of the Bride! In ancient Israel, weddings consisted of two parts, the betrothal, or engagement, and the actual marriage ceremony which came later. The betrothal marked the contractual agreement between a groom and bride, committing each other legally to their union, but the conjugal union was not celebrated until as much as a year or more later—after the groom returned to his father’s house to build a place for his bride. Only the groom’s father could say when the new place was ready, at which point the groom was released to go fetch his bride. The bride’s duty during this time was to gather her dowry and prepare herself to go with her groom when he appeared. Because she didn’t know the day or hour of his appearance, the groom’s approach was heralded by the blowing of a shofar! Thus, blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah foreshadows the day Jesus will return to earth to receive His Bride, the Church, heralded by an enormous sounding of trumpets. 1 Thessalonians 4:16

Some Jewish followers of Christ believe Jesus will actually come again on Rosh Hashanah. Whether or not this is true, remember this, referring to the wedding supper of the Lamb, Jesus said: “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

Come, join us this Wednesday to celebrate the promise of Christ’s return and the coming days when we will reign with Him on earth! Better yet, learn to allow the Holy Spirit to “blow through you” now, so you can reign with Him today, releasing heaven on earth wherever you go!

We often think of the end result of Christian life as what should be “normal” for all Christians: things like not swearing, smoking or doing drugs, living in sexual purity, not living selfishly, and not automatically reacting in anger or taking offense at things people say or do. Many times people feel so pressured to produce these results that they slide into faking them, acting one way at church but quite another way at home, school or work. This is the kind of hypocrisy that drives people away from church life. God is not just concerned with end results. He’s equally concerned with how we get there—and don’t you know He has a wonderful way of exposing fake results?!

The “normal” Christian life is all about the process of being transformed from living self-centered lives to living as God calls us to live. Aren’t the happiest families ones that learn how to encourage each other to do their best rather than criticizing each other for falling short of expectations?! That’s certainly how God is with His family. God knows it’s a process.

The Bible says make every effort to add to your faith goodness, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, kindness and love. This passage, 2 Peter 1:5-8, continues: “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Making efforts and acquiring godly traits in increasing measure are words that describe a process, not a performance.

The process of being transformed by the renewing of our hearts and minds includes letting God know what we’re going through. God is merciful and gives us peace in place of anxiety as we learn to walk in His ways: “But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!” Jude 1:20-21, The Message Bible.

Philippians 4:6-7 adds: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to give us peace along with resurrection power so we can directly experience God’s love as we’re being transformed. Embrace the process and you’ll find that He who has begun a good work in you will faithfully continue that process until the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6

God values who we are more than what we do, even though He has goals and expectations for how we are to live. When you learn to enjoy the adventure of transformation and growth, you have the key to happiness for living a normal Christian life!

The word “identity” is not found in the King James Bible, only in a few modern translations. This makes some people wonder if focusing on our identity in Christ is unbiblical or just a passing fad. Well, just as the Bible describes the Father, Son and Holy Spirit without using the word “Trinity”, so too the Bible speaks about the process of forming a new identity in Christ without using the word identity. Over the centuries this process has been called discipleship, Spiritual formation, and sanctification. The bottom line is we receive a new identity when we pursue Jesus.

To receive our new identity in Christ, we must go through a very active process of putting off old habits of mind and heart and putting on new habits. Ephesians 4:22-24. It’s not automatic. We are called to engage pro-actively in the process of learning to live like Jesus. We are called to pursue our new identity in Christ!

The Latin root of the word “identity” means “the same over and over.” What we do over and over again represents our true identity—i.e., not simply what we say, but our actual behavior! The central question is where do the things come from that we end up doing over and over again in our lives? Do they come from the world or from God? Are the patterns you see in your life birthed from pain and abuse, or from love? If you find yourself being anxious, fearful, angry or always feeling like you have to dominate others, you know you’re not yet walking in the identity Jesus died to give you.

Jesus said rivers of living water will flow from within whoever believes in Him. John 7:38. One measure of our new identity in Jesus is the degree to which the Spirit flows from within us to bring life to ourselves, our families and others. If your words and actions don’t consistently produce newness of life in others, you know you have a great opportunity to put off the old man and put on the new.

Uniquely among world religions, Christianity teaches that the pattern for what works best in our lives comes from the strength of our relationship with Jesus and our Father in Heaven. As we connect with God and draw closer to Jesus, we discover deep truths about ourselves and acquire integrity in our identity as Christians. We are empowered to become the same person over and over again, speaking more and more and behaving more and more like Jesus, whose life teaches us what the Spirit of God looks and sounds like in human form.

Here’s a secret of Christian life that modern science now confirms. Putting off the old and putting on the new is also called renewing the mind. (See Romans 12:2). We renew our minds much faster and more effectively when we focus on practicing new habits of thought and belief rather than focus on fighting against old habits, which often only reinforces the old patterns rather than strengthens the new.

To learn more about how to put off the old man and put on the new, join us for our new fall quarter of

Finger Lakes Ignite. We’re studying Wendy Backlund’s new book, Victorious Emotions, to proactively pursue walking more fully in our new identity as followers of Jesus. It will be the best investment of two hours a week you may ever make!

“Is what you’re living for worth what Jesus died for?” my friend Jarrod Stevens asked this week. It’s a question we need to consider every day. We could also ask: “Do the habits of my life, my usual routine, look like the Way Jesus made for me?” Or, we can simply ask: “Does what comes out of my mouth glorify God?” I don’t know about you, but these kinds of questions challenge me to become more of who God made me to be. They challenge me to ignite my faith!

You have a good opportunity to ignite your faith too this fall when the next session of our school, Finger Lakes Ignite, begins. This quarter we’re focusing on activating our identity and inheritance in Christ. We’ll be studying Wendy Backlund’s newest book, Victorious Emotions, and every week we’ll do spiritual exercises that activate our faith and challenge us to enter deeper than ever before into the life God is calling us to. No matter what your level of faith is right now—beginner to experienced—there’s always more available to us in Christ Jesus!

When Israel was wandering in the desert, they had to rely on God for the miracles of manna and water every day. But when they entered the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey, God stopped providing manna because now Israel would learn to sow, harvest and prosper on their own as long as they remained faithful to God. In like manner, many of us rely on miracles to get us through the challenges of our lives, but God wants to bring us into a place of prosperity, where we can reap well because we have learned how to sow well God’s way.

Finger Lakes Ignite will help you discover and arrive at the kind of prosperity the Father wants for His children. You’ll learn your identity is not determined by your past, but by who God says you are. You won’t just learn this as a concept, but specifically as it applies to your particular past and who God has called you in particular to be. He has a greater inheritance of spiritual gifts and purposes for your life than you have yet to experience. They’re yours for the asking, but you have to pursue Him faithfully. Seek first His Kingdom and he’ll provide everything you need!

So consider joining Finger Lakes Ignite this fall, beginning Sunday afternoon, September 10th through October 22. It’s one class a week, Sundays, from 2:15 to 4:30, plus a little reading each week. You’ll experience more of God’s presence through anointed worship and prophetic prayer and you’ll connect with believers from other churches to share what you’re learning and encourage one another. There will be plenty of opportunities to give and receive prayer and to practice moving in God’s supernatural giftings. And we’ll do outreach to the area during the quarter.

There is a lot of misunderstanding over the definition of “righteousness” today. Many believers associate righteousness with a list of things that they have to do, and if they fulfill this list, they feel righteous. Conversely, when they fail in terms of their actions or behavior, they feel unrighteous. But this is the wrong definition and understanding of New Testament righteousness.

Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 5:21 again. We are not right just because we do right. We became righteous because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. “Righteousness,” therefore, is not based on our right doing. It is based entirely on Jesus’ right doing. Christianity is not about doing right to become righteous. It is all about believing right in Jesus to become part of His righteousness.

Do you realize that other religions in the world are all about doing right? Other religions are based on a system of merit whereby you need to fulfill certain requirements to attain a certain state of righteousness,such as giving sacrificially to the poor, doing good to others, and caring for the underprivileged. It all sounds very good, self sacrificial and appealing to our flesh, which likes to feel that our good works have earned us righteousness. But God is not looking at your goodness, sacrifice or good works to justify you. He is only interested in Jesus’ humility at the cross. He looks at his Son’s perfect sacrifice at Calvary to justify you and make you righteous!

Attempting to be justified by your good works and trying your best to keep the law to become righteous is to nullify Jesus’ finished work on the Cross. It is as good as saying “The Cross is not enough to justify me. I need to depend on my good works to make myself clean and righteous before God.” In the New Testament Paul says, “I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness came by the law, then Christ has died in vain.” Consider carefully what Paul is saying here. He is saying that, if you are depending on your good works, you’re doing, and your ability to keep the law perfectly to become righteous, then Christ died for nothing. That’s what “in vain” means, for nothing.

So let’s not set aside God’s grace in vain. Let’s believe His word and truth, that we are now the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. And let us now believe that He lives in us and we live in Him. By his spirit that is now at work in us, let us be led by the power of His love into all the good works that He has already planned for us to walk in. In Christ. May His blessing be in all the earth!